This morning I had a worship service in my car, which moved to my backyard. I was suppressing a huge grin as I drove home from early morning school carpool. I couldn’t wait to get home and photograph the beautiful sunrise! I decided to take the long way home where most of the drive was in a school zone so that I was forced to drive really slow and would have the best view of the sunrise.

I don’t know if you believe this or not, but I think everything we do can be worship if our heart is pointing to God. Think about it for a second.

Olympian Eric Liddell said that when he ran, he felt the pleasure of God. We too, can feel the pleasure and presence of God in our daily activities.

Obviously our activities that are sin will not be worship of God, but worship of ourselves and our pleasures.

This morning in the brisk fifty degree air, I snapped multiple pictures and smiled at God’s glory in the sky. These photographs represent worship of God as Creative Artist.

Like this:

After blogging for about a year and a half, I just discovered this handy little tool that you see above. It’s so fun! You insert pictures and it places them in order for you. I can’t get enough and wanted to show you some pictures that we’re considering framing for the living room.

If you are new to Coffee with Christine, then I need to tell you that our family loves Africa. We especially love African people. We lived in central Nigeria for a couple of years and grew to love some great Nigerian people. We learned a lot from them and appreciate many things about Nigerian culture. More about that another time. 🙂

The pics above are all from Kenya, when Danielle and I went to the Kibera slum in Nairobi in June.

Like this:

When you look at this picture, what do you see? A stunning morning sky, or power lines; an eye sore? I can’t help but see beautiful vivid blue as a background with silvery white clouds. I am convinced that if we are looking for beauty, we will see it. We can focus on the positive in other people, our situations and hardships, and in nature, or we can hone in on the negative.

Sometimes a perspective shift is all it takes to see things differently. This view is still from my backyard, but you’re seeing more of the beautiful sky. I live in a suburban area that is mostly a developed concrete jungle. You really have to look for beauty in nature and you must be intentional. Otherwise you’ll mostly notice stores and shopping centers. What do you want to see today? Focus on beauty in people and nature, and you will see more of it.

A friend was telling me about one of her neighbors visiting with her in the front yard. Her young daughter gasped with delight as she pointed out a beautiful rainbow in the distant sky. The pessimistic neighbor scoffed and said, “Heck, I can see a rainbow anytime I want with a water hose.” This perfectly illustrates how much our perspective matters. We can appreciate simple beauty in life, and intentionally look for it. Or we can be pessimistic and ridicule those who see the brighter side of things. Which one will you be today?